When the soul-warming particles of light finally broke the darkness of night, and the first little tweeting birds finally began their marvelous symphony of morning forest's peacefulness, Esrael and Gilroy, ready for upcoming adventure, reached the rendezvous point, near the inn, where the meeting with determined stranger had been arranged the day before. Suddenly, gazing at slowly falling snowflakes, the peculiar shapes of which amused his rich imagination, Esrael noticed a strange shadow, which rapidly dashed over the roof, slightly blinked on the rooftop of one of the houses and shone on the dazzling morning's light in a blink of an eye. But our hero didn't manage to look at it more carefully: it vanished behind the roof of one of the houses as rapidly, as it had appeared. That apparition puzzled Esrael and, to tell the truth, a little bit startled him, but the fear didn't hold him in a cage for long: when the figure of the familiar young man, having shown from the corner of an old wooden house, appeared our hero gasped with relief.
—Nice to see you again, morning attackers! I bet that you're feeling greedy for shining gold, right?—the young man asked with undying enthusiasm as if he was giving the performance in the noisy inn a minute ago. Esrael and Gilroy, trying to struggle their overwhelming desire for sleep, silently nodded. —Well, then... What are we waiting for?—the young man optimistically exclaimed, being amused by his fellows' strained silence.—You look really freezing, by the way. Follow me! Take your time, chucks!
Having shrugged his shoulders, Esrael headed after the stranger, who was freely moving in the slightly burning snow blizzard. Gilroy, having nodded dissatisfactory and sighed with a pure unwillingness to follow the stranger, headed after his fellow-mates, rapidly walking towards the main gates of the city. This is how thrilling adventure began.
***
The daytime, followed by the brightening sunrays, which were spreading their soft shining seeds upon the snow-covered valleys, disturbed by the gouling of a slight plain whirlwind, which was desperately twirling tiny snowflakes in its freezing belly, was slightly conquering the leftovers of the morning. Meantime, comrades had moved away from the town pretty far and entered the forest, from where only Tempestwind's towers' and powerful walls' tops could be determined. Struggling with debris and windfalls, sticking in the snow hills, falling on icy slopes, our bold heroes determinedly followed the stranger, coming closer to their desired aim every second. The freeze burned their skin, tiny particles-snowflakes were hitting their reddish faces, their legs were heavily struggling with thick layer of mountain snow, but their stubbornness and bold could not be defeated: Esrael and Gilroy persisted following their steadfast leader, who, by the way, didn't get stuck in the snow at all, going further and further from their hometown on the lonely northern border of kingdom of men.
—I lay odds one hundred to one, that this son of a bitch is a goddamn elf!— Gilroy exclaimed, moving through the lines of snow defense and watching their guide freely walking on the top of the snow debris.—Otherwise, he won't be moving on the snow like a mountain goat! I wish I could be so light...
—I won't be so sure about his species,—Esrael replied, cleaning his face off wet particles of snow.—He doesn't look like an elf at all: they have long ears, like branches, but this guy's ears are truly ordinary if my eyesight is not failing me. I bet he is lighter than a sparrow if he walks on this kind of surface as a king.
—No way! That's garbage — he can't weigh so little. His appetite is truly beasterous! We shouldn't have followed his prints,—Gilroy, watching the fastwalking figure of the guide, heavily sighed.—I bet he can't wait to twist our heads off with some of his fellow assassins. God damn! I wish I didn't forget to take a sword. Now, I suppose, Shelva is not the dumbest head in our town anymore...
—C'mon, Gilroy! Don't be so sheepish!—Esrael, watching their new fellow's steps, said.—I don't think there's a wolf hiding under this adorable skinny fellow. Just relax and enjoy your walk. If we don't touch him, he won't do it either.
—Alright. I'll try my best, your majesty,—Gilroy, continuing his way to the top through the mountain slopes, agreed in sarcasm.
And so our wanderers walked and walked, noticing how minutes turn into hours, fighting with wet snowy debris, surrounding them, and feeling, how freezing cold was getting to the toes of their cold-petrified feet. After long and tiring way along the frozen plains, three bold treasure-hunters finally could take a little sip of relief: their tired eyes, at last, noticed black mountain tops, which were close enough to be seen in detail. However, happiness quickly vanished from their souls, as they realized that their aim was still pretty far away from their location. When the halfway was behind, and the stranger looked at the faces of his fellow desperate treasure-hunters, forces of Esrael and Gilroy had already been dried up to the bottom. And so, in accordance with wisdom, he decided to have a quick rest on the mountain slope.
—Well, I guess you got a little bit dizzy out here?—the young man asked with the kindness of a monk, looking at exhausted travelers. There was no word put forward in reply.—A-a-alright then... Ahem... Let's take a quick rest, shall we? Just get the camp settled, and I'm gonna find something to bite around meantime,—with these words, the stranger headed towards the little lone pine-forest and within seconds disappeared in its darkness. It's hard to describe tremendous happiness of what our heroes just heard. But their amusement didn't last for long — feeling extremely tired and lacking in sleep, they settled on their warm hoods and fell into lullabying hands of Gipnose in order to suppress the desire for napping.
***
Esrael was first to get up. It was the daytime already, as the sun was pouring its precious light on beautifully snow-decorated valleys, making our hero shield his sleepy eyes with his hands. His attention was suddenly drawn to the young man, who was sitting next to the fire, the heat of which was slightly warming frozen body of the woken soldier, and baking something very smooth to the smell. Having felt his friends' waking, the stranger turned his sight to them and optimistically grinned.
—Rise and shine!—he smiled and looked in the unfocused eyes of two sleepy comrades, meantime picking the flashing coal in the little campfire.—I guess it's time for delicious breakfast. Or lunch, to be said more correctly, right?
—For sure! I'm really hungry!—Gilroy, resisting his furious appetite, replied. It was seen in his vividly looking eyes, that the feeling of ultimate hunger completely conquered his mind, and his suffering stomach was already striking in the defense of starving. Having taken a quick look at the boiling water of a kettle, Gilroy sighed with a surprise: a soup of freshly prepared partridges, the marvelous, mouthwatering smell of which was slightly streaming through nostrils of our hungry hero, was chaotically boiling in clean mountain water. The expectation didn't last for long: having grabbed thick wooden bowls and scratched spoons from their packs, Esrael and Gilroy, having poured a soul-warming portion of hot, freshly-prepared pottage in their dish, began to severally consume their friend's gracefully prepared dinner, splashing drops of gullet-warming steamy delicacy on pure white snowy carpet. Suddenly, when another spoon of soup was disappearing in his gullet, Esrael spotted the jobbing cook's weird behavior: the suspicious thing was his complete indifference to the meal itself; it seemed as if the stranger didn't notice his freshly-prepared dish at all.
—Hey, listen, mate. Everything is alright?—Esrael asked his guide, watching him calmly picking sparkling pieces of coal in the campfire.—You haven't eaten anything since we set off. You are not hungry?
—Well... I didn't want to insult you, but I've already had my breakfast,—the young man replied, having stopped picking the burnt wood.—Help yourself — we have a long way through the mountains to pass. You'll need a lot of power to succeed.
At the moment of short-lasting conversation with the stranger, Esrael's attention was drawn to little drops of blood on the young man's lips; however it wasn't the most shocking thing for him to see: our hero had his hart in his mouth, when his sight suddenly spotted a dragon-like paw instead of a normal human arm! Startled traveler rubbed his eyes, still being disbelieved by the apparition he had seen, and looked again. Luckily for his mind, the paw wasn't there anymore.
"Mother of Zeus! What the hell is wrong with me?—Esrael thought to himself, blinking his surprised sleepy eyes.—I guess it's because of lack in sleep. Damn... I should have taken a nap a little bit earlier last night".
—So... Let's head for the adventures, shall we?—the young man, having rubbed his hands, enthusiastically asked.—We have nearly arrived. The sooner we get to the mines, the faster we will come back to the city. I bet you're dying to fill your pockets with shining treasure-coins, aren't you? —You got to be kidding me!—Gilroy, pouring the leftovers of the soup on the shining snow, laughed.—Of course we are!
—And what's exactly hidden in that place?—Esrael, putting spoons and bowls in his sack and watching the stranger putting out the campfire, suspiciously asked.
—Gold,—the mysterious wanderer, having packed the leftovers of the food, replied. Having grabbed his leather bag, he continued:—Shining mountains of it. Infinite storages of long-forgotten rarities, the world has ever discovered. I promise—you will get everything you could wish for.
Shortly after getting their things packed up, our heroes distinguished the last sparkling coals of heart-warming tongues of fire and continued their way towards the mountain, being lit up by the precious wine-colored disk of the morning sun.
***
After long tiring hours of uninterrupted pacing through the thick snow hills, our brave fortune hunters reached colossal mountain chains. It can be said without a doubt, that these unreachable summits were the main curiosity of this land: this kingdom of man district's policy was not connected with cultivating and city-construction, due to the tough climate primarily, so Tempestwind's only value was its ultimate and priceless durability to threats and attacks, which made it a perfect defense line against assaults on the capital—Eldoras—from the north. That's why some lone travelers, wandering through these lands, could only be satisfied by magnificent snowy mountain summits, which startled everyone with their petrifying marvel. Their powerful chains, so thick and mighty, made everyone, who found the courage to come close to their base or take a look at them from the distance, understand how pitiful and helpless he was against nature's tremendous force.
—In the lonely halls of that mountain, which stands highest above all others, —the young man, having pointed at the black pointy peak, said,—the old abandoned gold-field of dwarfs is hidden. There is a lot of treasure they didn't manage to retrieve left.
—Why did they leave it, I wonder?—Esrael, having side-looked his guide, suspiciously asked.—Did they have any particular reasons for that?
—Well...—the young man, having scratched his head thoughtfully, lengthened.—A sort of, I guess. When dwarves were digging the mine a long time ago, they found fire dragons' city deep beneath the layer and, unfortunately, disturbed them. They were really furious about that accident and burnt down everything that dwarves built, having chucked those beardy disturbants out. Luckily, no one died, but none of the dwarves ever returned to that place.
—Dragons?!—Gilroy specified fearfully.—Hold on, buddy! You said nothing about dragons! Why didn't you warn us sooner?
—There is nothing to worry about,—the young man, having laughed, calmed Gilroy down.—No one has seen them for ages. Probably, they fled from this domain irrevocably and didn't want to return. Probably... Alright — I guess that's enough spooky stories for today. We haven't come here to scare each other, have we? Let's go — great deal awaits us!
Having finished his short monologue, he determinedly headed towards powerful mountain summits, on the top of which curly caravans of snow-white clouds were slowly floating in the ocean of ultimate calmness and serenity. —I told you he's concealing something!—Gilroy, watching their guide going further away from them with each step, whispered.—He will kill us all!
—I don't think so,—Esrarel calmly replied.—He could have done that much sooner: he had really great opportunities. It is not crowded at all in, plus he knows these surroundings like a back of his hand. So, I suppose he's not dying to get showered in our blood to the tip of his toes.
—Why do you trust him so much?—Gilroy grew hot.—Has he really won your favor?
—Yup,—Esrael replied and, having moved forward after the stranger, called Gilroy friend to follow:—Let's go, chucklehead! Everything's gonna' be alright. —Fine,—Gilroy replied unwillingly, hurrying after his friend.—But if I die because of him, it will be your fault.
After some time had vanished in the dark corners of eternity, our heroes finally reached the aim—massive mountain range, enormous heights of which marveled any traveler and made him lay down on his knee before this gigantic masterpiece of gods, no matter how experienced he was. By the gradual descent, a freeze-blazing blizzard brought chaos to every single patch of soil, twirling thousands of tiny particles of snow. Every single spot of the upper part of the peak was covered with a large snow cap, hidden in the thick crowd of furry clouds, which made calculating the approximate height of the mounting barely possible.
—Here we are, at last, fellows,—the young man enthusiastically replied, brushing his hands.—Now the last obstacle to go through is this mountain. Follow my steps and don't get out of the line. I advise you to put on your warm coats when we will be at nine hundred. It's pretty chilling out there! I don't want to see you turned into ice statues.
—Won't we just fall down?—Esrael, putting on his warm coat and covering his head with a hood, asked.—And, to make matters worse, we don't have any ropes or anything else to climb.
—If you follow me, everything will be alright,—the young man, having examined glorious mountain ranges, replied.—If things get hairy, call for help — I'll try to do my best to help you.
—Hold on, why don't you put on any warm clothes?—Esrael, who was wearing only a light shirt and canvas trousers, wondered.—Don't you feel cold a bit?
—Well... I just got used to such unpleasant weather conditions, so no warm clothes are needed.
—I see....—Esrael nodded distrustfully.—Well, no offense, I guess. Let's move on. We are on your lead.
—Okay,—the stranger agreed with the plan and followed the route, saying:— Try to keep up. The sooner we get there, the better.
And so, two young adventurous comrades, having put themselves together, obediently followed stranger's lead, trying not to get stuck in the snow debris. That's how their dangerous and long-desired climbing to the peak, which hid dozens of shining and marvelous treasures, began.
***
Freezing dry wind was the unhospitable host among silent stones of the mountains. It was crawling in every spot of our heroes' skin and chaotically shaking flaps of their hoods, creating a sort of flamboyant carnival around them. But Esrael and Gilroy didn't manage to give in: they went and went, clutching rare rocky ledges, which were grinning from the thick canvas of snow, and their guide was confidently leading them. The way seemed to turn into infinite Sisyfus labor, but, hopefully, after two bloodsucking hours of mountain climbing, the final aim was reached: the cave, full of an enormous amount of shining treasure, was before them. Its dark entrance, from where the chilling cold was crawling out of dark dwells, poured enmity and fear of mysteries, hidden in this cradle of wealth, into Esrael's and Gilroy's hearts. —And we're finally through, lads! Who wants to be the first?—the young man, enthusiastically staring at pale faces of his companions, asked. No cheerful reaction followed. Realizing, that it would be him to take the first step into the darkness, the youngster settled for a compromise:—Ahem... No volunteers, as always. Alright — I'll take the first step then. Don't fall behind! Otherwise, no one will ever find you 'ere!
After the short monologue, the stranger cheerfully headed towards the mysterious cave entrance. Having waited, until their guide would vanish in the darkness of the narrow path, Gilroy started whispering:—Now you see, what he's driving at, don't you? He wants to nail our heads on the wall! There's no need to follow him. Is that clear? Did you see his appetite? I owe you my soul that he's a Zeus damn cannibal! And we are on his wish list of the main course for sure.
—Listen, I know he's kind of strange,—Esrael whispered.—But I don't believe in his desire to kill us. I'm sure that if he was a man-eater, he would have cooked us during the rest stop. Fried and ready to serve, as it's said.
—He's not that innocent dupe, mate!—Gilroy, looking back, insisted.—I bet this cave is full of bones of fools like us. Esrael, please, I plead you — let's turn back until it's too late. We can have fun back in town at least.
—And then what? Another filthy drink in the gullet?—Esrael was getting irritated.—This deadly routine? House, platoon, inn, house, platoon, inn... Holy Gods, Gilroy, we're twenty years odd, and the only thing we have seen in this life is those ripe old aged streets! Do you want to spend the rest of your days in a den, cursing the day you refused to accept your happiness? It can be a way to the new precious life, don't you get it? We are going to lose our chance forever if we step aside now!
All of a sudden their heart-to-heart conversation was interrupted by the familiar voice from the tunnel: "Oi! I'm not going to wait for you for ages! It's going to get dark pretty soon!"
—No offense, man, — I'm going inside. I don't want to mourn about losing the luck, which has slipped from my hands,—after a short conversation, Esrael quickly vanished in the tunnel's darkness. Gilroy was in a loss: he couldn't make his friend step aside. Moreover, he wasn't his relative, like an elder brother, so it wasn't in his power to demand anything from him. But the ultimate power of unquestionable friendship took over. Our hero decided to help his friend in any situation, and he wouldn't break his owe. And so, having signed desperately, Gilroy thought to himself: "Curse you, Esrael! You're a mad bastard! That's why I adore you!" — and ran after his friend.
***
The cave was full of moisture, left by remains of melted ice and snow, but as our heroes were going deeper and deeper, the surroundings were getting dryer and dryer. Dripping of the clear cold water were disturbing the silence of the narrow rocky path, planted with infinite crowds of stalactites, hanging from the ceiling, like giant icicles.
—Mind your head!—the stranger, observing his friends' cautiously sidestepping the rocks, warned. —These stalactites won't give you a friendly squeeze. By the way, does anybody have a torch or something like that? —I do,—Gilroy replied. Shortly after rummaging the bag, he handed a wooden torch to the guide.—Here you are.
—Thanks,—the young man gratefully replied.—What about matches? —You addressed the right person, mate,—Gilroy proudly replied and handed a rough matchbox to the stranger.
—You are very kind,—the guide accepted the matchbox, thanking Gilroy. In a blink of an eye, he lit the match and, finally, set fire to the torch.
The tunnel was instantly illuminated with the bright light of preciously sparking flames. It seemed that darkness retreated from the battlefield, fleeing from the brave charge of forces of light, having opened a tiny foothold of captured territories.
—Follow my way,—the young man, lifting the torch a little bit higher, ordered.
—Keep up! And mind your step. We're almost there.
The news heart warmed two friends. They instantly imagined themselves grabbing tons of preciously shining gold in their rough hands. So they immediately rushed after the stranger, barely avoiding stumbling over sharp rocks on the floor.
***
The short walk through the uncosy surroundings didn't take much time: squeezing through the narrow paths, our heroes at last reached crossroads, which branched into two bottleneck tunnels: one led to the right, the other, squirming, like a rattlesnake, to the left.
—To the right!—the guide confidently ordered. Esrael and Gilroy unwillingly followed his way, being involved into infinite webs of narrow paths. It seemed that the cave was pulling the treasure hunters' legs once again.
—Where are the treasures?—Gilroy, ducking before the stalaсtites, tiredly wondered.—I feel giddy because of those paths. I hope you are not going to leave us here to decay slowly.
—For sure...—the guide sarcastically laughed.—There's no other reason to bring you here. Let's just don't breed mistrust, deal?
—I would have accepted your offer with pleasure,—Gilroy replied,—but I consider my life too valuable for trusting someone I have known for only two days odd. Listen, no offense, but I have a family to make, and I do not want to be murdered in this cave amid these damn rocks, showered in my blood!
—Wow! Take it easy,—the guide, having picked the right turn, calmly replied.
—That's not in my power to spear you on a rock.
—Oh! Happy to hear that!—Gilroy, having ducked under a rock, incisively exclaimed.
The conversation, hopefully, hadn't reached the boiling spot: it was interrupted by the long-awaited arrival to the place, the stranger had been singing about for so long.
—Here we are at last!—the guide, having turned to exhausted Esrael and Gilroy, proudly exclaimed.—Would you kindly give me the torch? I can't see crap in here.
Gilroy unwillingly handed the only source of light to the young man. The stranger thanked him and lifted the flame to the ceiling. All of a sudden the gasps of exclamation of Esrael and Gilroy followed: the ceiling was instantly lit with a bright blue flames, and the part of the cave, which seemed spooky and chilling, turned into a soul-warming valley of peacefulness.
At that moment faces of Esrael and Gilroy shone with unbelievable happiness: large hills of millions of golden coins, cups, crowns and weapons greeted them with alluring shine, worthy of the Zeus's lightning. Gilroy was nearly out of his senses. It was unnecessary for them to wait any longer: comrades, hardly bottling up excite, rushed into the golden hills, pouring gold into everything they could get. Bags, pockets, hoods — gold was leaking from everywhere. It seemed, that nothing could appear strange or suspicious at that moment to Esrael and Gilroy, unless the stranger's unadmiring attitude to gold: he just apathetically brushed the hills of golden coins as if he was not going to pick even a single piece.
It was the last straw to break Esrael's patience. Now he was in solidarity with Gilroy's opinion. Having thrown away a golden cup, surprising all the present, including his brother in arms, who was staying amid treasure hills with a crown on the head, Esrael furiously addressed to the guide:
—You know what? I'm tired of your filthy mascarade! I saw you eating a large piece of lamb in a blink of an eye, drinking a huge mug of icy water and other awkward things, worthy of a mad troll! And now you want to tell me, that you are not interested in all these treasures?! What the damn Hades is wrong with you?! Why did you bring us here?!
—Alright. You want some answers, I suppose,—the nomad politely replied.—I will get them, I promise. But before I will reveal everything, tell me — do you really want to know, who I really am and why I have brought you here? —Of course, I do! I'm dying to know the reason!—Esrael, without paying any attention to Gilroy's attempts to cool him down, irritatedly replied.
—Well, it means that you're ready to see something, you've never seen before,—the young man clapped his fingers, and the thing, which occurred after that, startled Gilroy and Esrael out of their wits.